In this, of course, I wasn’t any different from millions of other young boys across the world.I loved the bright red machines of my Calcutta youth – which sped to the scene of a fire, with shiny bells clanging, firemen quickly unrolling the long hoses, connecting them to the water hydrant at the roadside, and then spraying down the conflagration with great jets of cooling water.

But what if the fire engine gets to the burning house, and there isn’t a hydrant to connect to?

That’s the situation in many parts of the developing world.Much of the world’s poor are not covered by safety nets – so there is nothing that can be scaled up in times of crisis. In such circumstances, the impacts of crisis can be severe and long-lasting, as my colleague Ruslan Yemtsov wrote in his recent blog post[5].

‘Underground piping’ essential

Think of existing (non-crisis) safety nets as similar to the underground piping system in any city.They help poor families deal with the day-to-day shocks and deprivation, much like pipes delivering essential water to quench thirst and help hygiene.But when crises hit, the very same safety net “pipes” can be used by the crisis-response fire engines to quell the flames.

Underground piping systems are not as glamorous or noticeable as fire engines – but are essential for the effectiveness of the more attention-grabbing fire engines.

But the future of safety nets does not just involve underground pipes.It also needs ladders – access to good jobs to enable people to climb out of poverty and inability to cope with risk.This is the so-called graduation[13] agenda.There is still insufficient knowledge[14] about what works best, and what doesn’t, in this area – especially for the very poor.

Over the next few days, we will have high-level discussions at the World Bank’s Spring Meetings about how to work together with global partners on building and improving safety nets – and on closing the gap between those that have access to them and those that don’t.Hopefully, we can together move towards a world where everyone has access to the underground pipes of safety net systems in good times, strong job ladders to climb out of poverty and need, and effective fire engines to increase support in times of crisis.